Information-based decoding of the coupling among human brain activity and movement paths

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Walking like many other actions of a human is controlled by the brain through the nervous system. In fact, if a problem occurs in our brain, we cannot walk correctly. Therefore, the analysis of the coupling of brain activity and walking is very important especially in rehabilitation science. The complexity of movement paths is one of the factors that affect human walking. For instance, if we walk on a path that is more complex, our brain activity increases to adjust our movements. OBJECTIVE: This study for the first time analyzed the coupling of walking paths and brain reaction from the information point of view. METHODS: We analyzed the Shannon entropy for electroencephalography (EEG) signals versus the walking paths in order to relate their information contents. RESULTS: According to the results, walking on a path that contains more information causes more information in EEG signals. A strong correlation (p= 0.9999) was observed between the information contents of EEG signals and walking paths. Our method of analysis can also be used to investigate the relation among other physiological signals of a human and walking paths, which has great benefits in rehabilitation science.